October 9^th, 2005:

A beautiful day, warm for this time of the year, and totally calm. Not too much sun, though. Yesterday was pretty nice too, lots of sun and a good drying wind. I phoned Mozart today to see if they were able to combine and Laurie said they were just going out to try it. Friday was cold, windy, and wet - not with heavy rains but with a drizzle that just went on and on, and it would take some good weather to get rid of that moisture.

The annual Ducks Unlimited banquet was held at the Cove last night and I gather it was quite a success. I think the committee was a bit concerned at the lack of ticket sales early in the week, but they got a good normal crowd. Seems to me every year the committee worries about those advance sales, and every year it turns out okay!

We had a good crowd here for Thanksgiving; as usual, I pigged out and now I can barely move. Can barely keep my eyes open, too.

The weekend was marred for us - last night, grandson Aaron and his girlfriend, Lindsay, were driving back from Mistatim when a deer ran into them. It made a real mess of the car’s left fender and door, and smashed the driver’s window in. The car is quite low in the front, so it’s a good thing the deer hit them rather than vice versa, or it would likely have come through the windshield. Both Aaron and Lindsay were pretty badly shaken up emotionally.

We went to Prince Albert Sunday, to visit my sister, Cathy, and to attend a concert. Pavlo was the name of the concert, named after its star, a guitarist playing Mediterranean music and putting on a terrific show. He also had a balalaika/mandolin player, a bass guitar, a fantastic percussionist and a guest violinist. As usual, the amps were turned up about double what was necessary but the showmanship made it bearable. He is coming back in a year and we are already making plans to attend.

We came back on Monday. There was no action at all on the harvesting scene. We could see huge ruts in fields east of Tisdale where combining had been attempted but wasn’t too successful. That’s something we didn’t have to worry about at Mozart - the fields were, for the most part, dry and firm.

Tuesday we were on the road again. First to Foam Lake so Doreen could visit our friend, Mary Ann, then to Grimson’s. This time, though, just to visit, not to drive combine. From there, we went to Saskatoon, but were home by Wednesday evening.

On the whole trip, we saw one combine working, after dark on Wednesday. There is a lot to be done farther west, more than around Mozart.

The bears that were causing trouble around the Park have been caught and, I suppose, hauled away. The first, the smaller one, was caught on the weekend; the bigger one on Wednesday. I hope they took them a long way away. People around here were terrified because the bears didn’t seem to have much fear of humans, and that can lead to trouble.

Greenwater Creek doesn’t seem to be flowing much, but I noticed the Red Deer River had a pretty good current. The leaves are pretty well gone from the trees but there is still some color left in the underbrush.

I walked down to the Marina yesterday; wildlife was scarce except for eighteen honkers on the main beach, and one lone coot in the Marina. Two deer wandered through our yard yesterday, nibbling aimlessly here and there, likely the same two that are frequently seen around the Park entrance. They, too, seem to have lost much of their normal caution; one of these days they will wander too far from the core area and meet up with a hunter!